I’ve had this idea for a while, and I’d love to hear what you think—maybe you’ll spot things I haven’t!
The idea is to create a YouTube channel where we share art made with open-source software (animations, short films, demos, etc.). The channel would be monetized, and all the money earned would go directly to support Blender or other open-source tools used in the projects.
Of course, every artist will get full credit for their work, with links to their socials and portfolios.
This could not only help bring together amazing art created with open-source tools but also give more visibility to artists since the channel will have a variety of interesting content from different people.
What do you think? I’m excited about the idea, but I might be missing some important points, so I’d love to hear your feedback or suggestions.
Also, I can’t stop thinking about how Blender had $3.8M in income last year, while Adobe’s CEO reportedly earns over $44M. Imagine the difference we could make if more people supported open-source!
enough content (artists and videos) to make the channel viable and profitable, which might be tricky if you only use Blender content. Without enough relevant content, no channel survives. And artists don’t “magically” give away their content, someone would have to contact them and arrange a lot of things. That’s a lot of work (which, per your idea, someone would be doing for free);
YT pays very little to creators (especially small ones) so, unless it somehow did better than a lot of channels (say, 100k views or more per video), the revenue would not be that significant
Take a look at CGBros for an idea of what content would be needed, and how much views it gets. It’s no surprise a lot of youtubers get sponsors these days.
Of course, anything is better than nothing, but it might not be as profitable as you imagine.
The kind of money you’re talking about- multiple millions- there’s about a dozen YouTube channels in total that have that kind of earning power. Most YouTube channels make a few dollars a month.
Even BlenderGuru, with millions of subscribers and daily views, is barely bringing in six figures yearly (about 132k) from YouTube:
To get to that $44 million number you mention, we’re looking at MrBeast levels- he brought in $54 million in 2021, with ten billion views on YouTube. That’s one view for everyone alive on Earth with billions left over. Making huge amounts of money on YouTube just isn’t that feasible
it is not about the earnings from YouTube only, it is about awareness.
people can see what can be done with open source only. We can promote the idea of donation and that “the more you give, the more you have” is exactly about Blender since the more money they will have the more resources they will have to do Blender better.
And if a few people manage the channel there will be less work per person.
But yeah… if there is anyone who thinks this idea may work, reach out to me
I can barely watch any video on youtube anymore, without youtube’s algos flushing a shitload of political far right troll-content, conspiracy theory bs, etc. my way in terms of ‘suggested content’ (or whatever they call it). @moderators note it is not my intention to start a political discussion at all. I am stating a structural problem I see with what has been made out of Youtube since Google bought it, by different parties (first and foremost Google, but not limited to them).
I would not want to be mixed in with that, and I think it is a shame what kind of bs Google puts next to e.g. the OpenMovies (maybe not the worst of it, but easily the MrBea*t type).
And to put that example into a different context: until a couple of months ago, I had no idea who Mr Beast even was. I only learned that he’s YT person after seeing some news article that discussed HR problems with his company.
I’ve still never seen any of his vids. No idea what he does in videos, and have zero interest in seeing them.
But I do know a lot of people watch him. Far fewer will want to regularly watch a YouTube channel filled with random blender clips. And the “made with open source!” angle is weak; the public at large couldn’t care less.
I use open source software and don’t even care about that angle.
When I hear a new song I like, does it matter if it was produced with Ardour or Protools? Don’t care. It’s about the song. Same with short films.
(Did I enjoy Arcane less because it was done with Maya…? No.)
“Random, made with blender” isnt going to get 50 million subscribers. 500 would be a realistic goal for year one.
While I appreciate your sentiment, I think your idea is very naive. As others have pointed out, a YT blender channel in the perhaps 100’s of thousands of subscribers would bring in peanuts.
If the Blender Foundation is genuinely hurting for cash and looking at a potentially unsustainable future, they might need to make the type of changes that they have been resisting since the beginning.
For instance, implementing a tiered price point similar to Unreal Engine where using Blender above a certain earning bracket costs money. Or giving large studios and companies more influence over development in exchange for substantial corporate sponsorship.
Ton has been resisting this since the very early days, and I applaud his resolve, but in today’s economy it might not be a sustainable long term plan.
the point is that it wouldn’t really be a difference to the current situation. it’s like asking for a donation because you would be able to legally download blender from everywhere else.
